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laying it out. If you make a mistake and accidently cut through a bridge, just use a pencil to mark the place where the bridge should connect so you'll be able to abut it when laying out the piece. Preparing the fabric Tahitian quilts were traditionally made with two solid-{)olored, highly contrasting fabrics. Now that prints are more readily available, Tahitian women are using them as well. You must prewash and iron your fabric because if the two large pieces that you are appliqueing together shrink at different rates, which is likely, distortion will be severe. It would be terrible to have all your careful sewing ruined by the first wash. All tifaifai are made by folding two quilt-sized pieces of fabric in quartersfirst in half lengthwise, then crosswise. Press very crisp fold lines into both pieces 38 before beginning the project because you'll need them to align the applique. Tahitians often sew two pieces of fabric together to acquire the width needed to make a quilt. 'fhe least noticeable place to put the seam is right down the middle. '1'0 make a quilt with a finished size of 84 by 108 in., I buy six yards of 44- or 45-in.wide cotton fabric for both the applique piece and the background. I cut each into two 3-yard pieces, and join each pair of pieces along the straight grain. If you plan to quilt your tifaifai, sew the two lengths of fabric for each layer together with a %-in. seam allowance, and press both allowances to one side for add- ed strength. If you do not plan to quilt, use a flat-fell seam (see Basic廤, which starts on p. 18) down the middle of the background fabric to finish it. I also recommend that this piece be a little heavier than the applique piece if you're not go- ing to quilt. Sew the applique fabric with a plain V4-in. seam pressed to one side. It is also exciting to design and plan Tahitian quilts on a smaller scale for wall bangings. I make my quarter drawing approximately 20 by 22 in. so I can take advantage ofthe full width of standard quilters' cotton fabrics and make my finished wall hanging 44 by 48 in. cu�gout the applique Before you begin cutting out your ap- plique, it is a good idea to shade or darken the actual design on the paper pattern so you won't become confused once the cutting is underway. It is easiest simply to pin the paper pat- tern to the folded fabric and cut it out as you would a dress pattern. Most paper of large size is heavy, however, so I recommend that you use long, strong quilting pins rather than fine silk pins. Pin the Thre廤珝㭨 Maga廤珝㭨 e